South Africa athlete Pistorius' brother badly injured in car crash

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The elder brother of South African Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius has been badly injured in a head-on collision but his life is not in danger, a family spokeswoman said on Saturday. The accident happened on Friday night north of the capital Pretoria when Carl Pistorius, 29, whose brother Oscar is on trial for the murder of his girlfriend, was returning home from a business trip. "We can confirm that Carl was involved in a serious car accident last night. Carl was badly hurt but we are thankful that he is out of danger. He was transferred to a hospital in Pretoria," spokeswoman Anneliese Burgess said in a statement. Carl Pistorius was acquitted last year on charges of culpable homicide or manslaughter over the death of a woman in a traffic incident in 2008. Pistorius was traveling on Friday with a companion but Burgess did not say whether he was driving or whether anyone else had been hurt in the accident. Oscar Pistorius, 27, known as "Blade Runner" because of the carbon-fibre prosthetic running legs he uses, is on trial for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, whom he shot and killed at his luxury Pretoria home on Valentine's Day last year. His trial has captivated global audiences and received round-the-clock media coverage. (Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Gareth Jones)